Mountainous City Landscape Water Supply System Potential Carbon Footprint: Case of the Philippines’ Catbalogan Sky City Mega Project

Abstract

Catbalogan Sky City Mega Project (CSCMP) is a climate-change (CC) adaptation strategy proposed after Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines in November 2013. It is currently being built on top of a hill about 120m from sea level to avoid the impact of storm surges, sea-level rise, and flooding. With the city’s continued expansion, water demand further worsens the supply gap. This study focused on determining the carbon footprint of the proposed water supply scarcity solution. This solution includes the construction of a reservoir to receive runoff water from the watershed where the CSCMP is located. Results of the study show that the reservoir can supply the water requirement for the entire city. However, the carbon footprint of the recommended solution is between 123% and 557% due to water treatment of heavily contaminated runoff water and the power consumption in distributing water to higher elevations. There is a need for the city to design a harvesting system that will reduce the need for more intense water treatment (i.e., reducing exposure of runoff water to contaminants) and the use of renewable energy in powering pumps and other treatment activities.